


Shine So Bright

by Knightsbridge07



Category: Black Panther (2018), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), F/M, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Not Black Panther (2018) Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2020-02-10 01:18:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18649990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knightsbridge07/pseuds/Knightsbridge07
Summary: A slight offshoot of the main time stream.





	Shine So Bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lilithenaltum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilithenaltum/gifts), [SilverCherie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverCherie/gifts), [TheRavynFire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRavynFire/gifts), [baby_bubastis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/baby_bubastis/gifts), [wakandawinterprincess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wakandawinterprincess/gifts), [AGDoren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AGDoren/gifts), [Rix1998](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rix1998/gifts), [Cao_the_dreamer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cao_the_dreamer/gifts), [Leodicaprih0e](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Leodicaprih0e), [rachealina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachealina/gifts), [crazyfan15](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazyfan15/gifts), [yellowsuns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowsuns/gifts), [misstoryunfolded](https://archiveofourown.org/users/misstoryunfolded/gifts), [Oopswakanda (orphan_account)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/gifts), [Esso1979](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esso1979/gifts), [Malaiikka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malaiikka/gifts), [chizoma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chizoma/gifts), [CindersAndBrimstone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CindersAndBrimstone/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Undertow](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15067538) by [lilithenaltum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilithenaltum/pseuds/lilithenaltum). 



> I did a thing inspired by the talented lilithenaltum. I hope you guys like it. (It may undergo some slight changes, as I'm rarely ever completely satisfied with anything).
> 
> Feel free to comment.

Shuri, to her great relief, is no longer queen of Wakanda, since T’Challa’s return from the soul world. She was glad to finally eschew from her mind  the country's ongoing political intrigue and the people’s disparate interests. It left her time to focus on her scientific work and her little girl—hers and Tony Stark’s.

 

Physical, mental, and emotional heaviness threatened to suffocate Shuri. Billions had returned from the soul world. She and others—she had no clue who most of them were—battled Thanos to the bitter end, and won. The last few days had been a whirlwind. And now, there remained one final task—to lay to rest the man who had made it all possible.

 

How cliché that everyone was dressed in black. She had never experienced an American funeral before today. In Wakanda…

 

She heaves a trembling sigh before she finishes the thought. She was here now, and Americans had their own ways of grieving, and it was best to not make comparisons. It’s really not important now.

 

Instead, Shuri watches as a winsome and willowy reddish-blonde sets adrift on the lake a bouquet of flowers with something that looked like Tony’s arc reactor attached to it.

 

The taciturn atmosphere is cloying, even though the small crowd is outside by the lake, a light breeze gently whipping hems and collars. She wants nothing more than for the day to end so that she and her family can get back to Wakanda. There, she can lock herself away in her residence and fall apart as much as she wants. Shuri couldn’t cry here—not at the home of Tony and his wife and son—she didn't have that right. The least she could do was have the decorum and propriety she hadn’t had when she carried on with Tony in Wakanda.

 

The only things holding her together now are Romonda’s and Okoye’s hands on her back and the substantial weight of her daughter Thandi lying limp on her shoulder. The idea had originally been to allow the three-year-old to say goodbye to her father, but it had been a long day for her, too, as she was dead to the world. As for her mother and Okoye, their current staidness aside, they'd finally, grudgingly accepted the fact that Tony Stark did love Shuri. However illicit their involvement had been, he had risked it all—and ultimately gave his life—for her and the universe. And, the royal family did now have a beautiful new princess. Her granddaughter had done much to soften Romonda's ire against the "lecherous colonizer."

 

"I'll say one thing for Mr. Stark," Romonda had quipped on the ride to the event, "he was quite the romantic."

 

Shuri, for all her resilience, felt utterly lost. Though she’d willed her tears not to fall, her eyes were red and glassy. If she had to hold out much longer, though, her resolve would crack, and she'd become a sobbing mess. And she'd already done quite enough to shame her country and her family. It was grace enough that she'd been allowed to come to the ceremony without drawing any audible criticism. Best she not throw herself to the ground wailing for her dead lover in front of his grieving wife and friends.

  

* * *

 

As soon as Tony’s holographic message finished playing, Shuri found her way out the back door to the porch, hoping to avoid the crowd. She let Romonda, Okoye, and T'Challa make small talk with the guests, as she believed she was being silently judged by the remaining Avengers and every other hero at the gathering. Maybe she was being paranoid—they’d all just saved the universe, and her personal life was of no consequence. But with evidence of her and Tony’s relationship snoring on her lap as she sat on the porch swing, it was hard to believe the thought didn’t cross anyone’s mind.

 

Thandi made a light chuffing noise, but didn’t wake.

 

“Come on, you guys,” Shuri said to no one as she rubbed the little girl’s back. She removed her brightly-patterned shawl and laid it over her daughter’s legs when the breeze kicked up from the lake.

 

“Fancy meeting you here,” a kind voice said.

 

Shuri turned her attention to the door and smiled as Bruce Banner stepped outside with a small plate of nibbles, which he offered to her as he sat on a wicker chair.

 

“Dr. Banner,” she sighed.

 

“You didn’t eat anything. Thought you might want a snack.” He set the plate on the wicker table, and Shuri carefully leaned forward to take one of the little sandwiches. She took a bite.

 

“Thank you.”

 

The two sit in silence for a few minutes as they stare out at the lake.

 

“You know,” Bruce said finally, “you and Thandi are perfectly welcome to come in the house. It’ll be a bit too nippy out here soon.”

 

Shuri gave him a look of _oh come now, Dr. Banner, I **am** the other woman_.

 

“I think, Dr. Banner—”

 

“Bruce. Formalities really seem kinda,” he shrugged, “pointless. I’ll still call you your majesty, though.”

 

“Only in front of my mother and Okoye. They’re sticklers, those two. Anyway, I was about to say it’s fine. If my mother and T’Challa and Okoye will kindly move their collective asses, we can be on our way back to Wakanda within the hour.”

 

“Well, everyone’s reminiscing right now, so you and Thandi might be waiting awhile.”

 

The wind picks up again, causing Bruce’s curls to muss. He holds the plate out to Shuri again, and she takes a kebab of lamb and vegetables.

 

“Bruce, I’m sure you know how awkward my presence here is.” Shuri waves her hand about as though fanning away smoke. “I’d rather not subject everyone to my…well, you get it.”

 

“I _do_ get it, your majesty…I mean, Shuri. Thing is, none of that is as important as you're making it out to be.”

 

Shuri pulled her daughter closer to her torso and higher on her lap. “You were mad at him, at Tony, when you found out about us.”

 

Bruce let out a slight huff. “Apoplectic was more like it, but yeah.”

 

“Everyone said that I was just a kid and he was old enough to be my father, that he pounced on me in the midst of my grief. That wasn’t it all. He…he never stood a chance against me. This _is_ Tony Stark we’re talking about. That sounds preposterously arrogant, but it is what it is. Pretty faces and big brains were his weakness. No one ever gave any thought to the idea that _I_ might’ve taken advantage of _him_. He told me about what happened with Peter when he and Strange and the Guardians were on Titan. He was broken, and I wanted something—someone—I thought needed fixing. Turns out _I_ was the one who really needed it.”

 

Bruce listened intently as he twiddled his thumbs. If he thought she was right, he wasn’t saying.

 

“I was not some child in search of guidance. I knew what I was doing.” Shuri inhaled deeply and looked down at Thandi, patted her little afro puffs. The child was starting to wake.

 

“Somebody’s up,” Bruce said.

 

“Yeah, gonna have quite a time trying to get her down for the night.”

 

The two turned to the back door again and this time, it was Tony’s estranged wife. Her blue eyes were warm and welcoming. She had every right not to be.

 

“Hey, Pepper,” Bruce said. “What’s up? D-Do you need anything?”

 

“Bruce, hi. I’d like to borrow her majesty, if you’ll allow it. Princess Shuri, would you come in?” she asked.

 

Shuri and Bruce traded unsure glances as Thandi rose up, rubbing her eyes with her tiny fists.

 

“Uh…certainly,” Shuri answered. “Bruce, could you—"

 

“Yeah, gimme my goddaughter.” He took Thandi into his arms and he and the little girl rubbed noses, eliciting soft giggles from her. “Hi, baby girl.”

 

Shuri cast the two a parting glance before she followed Pepper into the farmhouse.

 

* * *

 

The farmhouse is rustic and homey…lived-in. It's a place built of shiplap walls, open shelves, brick fireplaces, and hardwood floors, very un-Tony-like in Shuri’s opinion. But the blue glow of repulsor-powered, AI-controlled appliances, _very, very_ Tony.

 

The two women arrived at what Shuri assumed was Pepper’s study. Tony’s reading material of choice tended toward engineering journals and comics. These shelves were lined with leather-bound classics— _Little Women, Wuthering Heights_ , and _Age of Innocence_ to name a few. In a corner of the study, she saw a tall, rotund man sitting in a leather chair with a smiling, red-haired baby boy—a boy less than a year older than her Thandi.

 

Jude.

 

“Happy, could you take the baby, please?  It’s almost bedtime, so you can give him a little snack then change him into his pajamas.”

 

“Sure thing, boss lady. Your majesty,” he nodded to Shuri before hauling the boy into his arms and leaving the room. Jude waved to them over Happy’s shoulder.

 

Pepper pointed to the seat on the opposite side of her hand-carved desk. “Please.”

 

Shuri sat as Pepper took a seat also. “Can I offer you something? We still have plenty of food, and I suggest you grab some before Peter gets it all.”

 

“Uh, no. No, thank you, Mrs. … Ms. …”

 

“Pepper. Pepper’s fine.”

 

Shuri released the breath she had no idea she’d been holding. “Pepper. Then you may call me Shuri. I take it that was your son, Jude. He’s beautiful.”

 

“Thank you. You’re wondering why I asked you to come in here?”

 

“Among other things.”

 

“Well, it’s not so complicated, really. Tony had some things, and I thought you should have them. Your little girl—Jude’s sister—she _should_ have them. If you’d like I can have them sent to Wakanda.”

 

“That would be great, Pepper.” Shuri gave a gentle smile.

 

Shuri expected and was fully prepared for a tense day, but certainly not ... this.

 

She wanted Virginia Pepper Potts to be a hateful, overly critical shrew. That would mean she wouldn't have to feel so bad about her affair with Tony. A bitchy, unsympathetic Pepper would've meant that Tony was driven into Shuri's arms in desperate need of love and understanding. That would make all this much easier. But Pepper was the antithesis of what she'd hoped. _Dammit._  

 

Pepper is sharp, highly intelligent, driven, sincere, loving, and infinitely patient—she'd _have_ to be to marry Tony Stark. She's also a looker—all-American, blonde-ish, blue-eyed, and taller than Tony even without her designer heels. She had known Tony for much of his adult life, so Pepper had seen most of his highs and lows. She was far more than Tony’s wife, mother of his son, and CEO of Stark Industries. Pepper was his truest and most trusted friend, a foundational part of his life.  Without Pepper, without her regularly swooping in to rescue him from himself, Tony might have met his end far sooner than he had. And that end might have been shameful and utterly dishonorable.

 

As much as Shuri loved Tony, she knew she didn’t have with him the history this woman had. No one loved or understood Tony Stark better that Pepper Potts. Even if Tony's home life had been rife with tumult, to think he simply wandered into her bed like some lost puppy would cheapen what they shared. 

 

Pepper is a good woman, and she deserves better.

 

“I-I have to apologize to you,” Shuri said as though unloading a jealously-guarded secret.

 

“Shuri—”

 

“No, let me say this, please. I was selfish, callous, and only interested in my own needs. I never stopped to think about what my actions meant for your family, for your son. I’m sorry, deeply sorry for that, Pepper.” Shuri takes several tissues from the box on the edge of the desk and wipes the tears she’d struggled not to shed at the memorial service.

 

“I appreciate that, but it wasn’t necessary, honestly.” Pepper’s lips turn up into a reminiscent smirk as she leans back in her chair to gaze at the ceiling. “I realized long ago that I’d forgotten something very important about Tony Stark.”

 

“What’s that?” she sniffs, with genuine curiosity.

 

“He just loved. Even though Tony had _massive_ trust issues, he couldn’t help but wear his heart on his sleeve. I had come to accept that that was his idea of intuition. If Tony was drawn to someone for _any_ reason, that someone must be pretty wonderful…or at least fundamentally decent.”

 

Pepper turns a knowing eye to her, as though to point out the example. “I was angry about him and you, yes, but once I stopped being angry, I understood and I remembered. You don’t need absolution, Shuri, not from me, anyway. And I’m not looking for us to be best girlfriends, but I _do_ want our children to know each other. Maybe Thandi could spend summers in New York when she’s older, nothing’s set in stone. We could play it by ear.”

 

Shuri nods. “That would be wonderful. She and Jude deserve a clean slate. It would be good also to have you and Jude visit Wakanda as honored guests of the royal family.”

 

“Sounds like a plan. I might take you up on that offer sooner rather than later.”

 

“Knock, knock,” Happy said as he peeked inside the study. “Sorry to disturb you ladies, but your mother asked me to tell you they’re headed back to the hotel, your majesty. King T’Challa and General Okoye left about an hour ago.”

 

The two women rise up as Pepper thanks Happy for the message.

 

Pepper and Shuri turn to face each other, and Pepper reaches out for a handshake. Shuri accepts but then pulls her into a brief, formal hug. “Thank you,” the younger woman said. "There's one other thing you should know."

 

"Which is?"

 

"Tony loved you... _loved_ you and Jude with all his heart. Sometimes, you were all he ever talked about. I can certainly see why. He hated himself for what he—what _we—_ put you through."

 

"No need to dwell on it, Shuri. The other Avengers told me that when they traveled to the past, they were able to see their old selves in action, able to see how far they'd come and how much they've grown. That's a gift only they have ever had, and it's very special. If all this craziness about time travel has taught me anything, it's that you're _where_ you need to be _when_ you need to be there." Pepper gave Shuri’s arms a firm, friendly squeeze. "You said that Jude and Thandi both deserved a clean slate. Maybe the same applies to you."

 

 "I'll try to remember that."

 

* * *

Some days are better than others. Shuri works alone in her lab most of the time and manages to get things done efficiently. Other days, she's consumed with crippling melancholy that causes her to lose focus. She'd been carrying a box of clean beakers to the supply room one evening before shutting down when she'd just stopped in the middle of the task. Her hands had begun to tremble violently. Shuri hurled the beakers to the floor with all the strength she could muster, causing them all to break into a million pieces. She stood in the middle of the shards and angrily wailed Tony's name over and over at the top of her lungs.

 

It took several months before Shuri opened the box Pepper had sent from New York. It’s late on a Thursday morning and she is in her lab watching a 3-D printer execute one of her models. She sips a cup of coffee from the coffee maker Tony had built years ago. She treasures the appliance like a precious relic. She smiles at Thandi—now four years old—as she plays at her child-sized work table, complete with plastic, primary-colored tools, little goggles, and her own custom lab coat, given by T’Challa as a birthday present.

 

She reaches up to a shelf above her computer station and takes the box down to set it on her table.  There are photos from Tony’s youth, pictures of himself with Howard and Maria, Thandi’s grandparents. Shuri finds also several notebooks of his engineering work, one of his favorite T-shirts featuring Fleetwood Mac tour dates, pink diamond earrings and a string of pearls that had belonged to Maria Stark, and a stack of mix CDs. She also finds a ream of legal documents related to Thandi’s future stake in Stark Industries, basically outlining an agreed-upon percentage of ownership of the business for her when she came of age. Shuri finally removes a sealed, padded envelope marked HANDLE WITH CARE.

 

“Now what could this be?” she mumbled while gingerly opening it with a manicured, glitter-painted nail.

 

Shuri pulls from the envelope a computer chip, about the size of an index card. She turns it over in her hands wondering where it might go. On a hunch, she goes over to a far wall of twinkling lights—the “brain” of her lab—and pulls out a bracket.

 

“All right,” she breathes. “Here we go.”

 

Shuri slides the chip in line behind a circuit panel, clicking it into place. She pushes the bracket back into the wall and stands back.

 

She’s almost knocked off her feet when she hears a female voice over the sound system.

 

“Artificial intelligence MARIA online. Metamorphic Augmentable Responsive Interactive Apparatus” it said. “Hello, Princess Shuri.”

 

“Wha-…wait?”

 

“I am at your service. I was created for you by Anthony Edward Stark.”

 

“Tony,” she said in a reverent whisper. A tear slipped from her eye.

 

“You have a holographic message from Mr. Stark. Shall I play it back?”

 

“Uh…yes, yes, please.”

 

The image appeared in front of Shuri as her daughter ran up to her and wrapped herself around her legs. She reached down and picked up the girl.

 

_Hey, pretty baby._

_If you’re seeing this, then, well, I’m somewhere floating about in the ether. The d-word is just so…final, you know? I prefer to think I’ve gone on to a new adventure._

_Anyways, you got the box, I’m sure. It’s not much, but it’s all some piece of me. I’m not great with talking about my feelings, but I imagine I’m not really in a space to be shy now._

_I miss you, Shuri—you and my kids._

“Baba,” Thandi said, pointing at Tony’s image.

 

“Yes, that’s your baba,” she answered and kissed the child’s hand.

 

_Leave it to you to come into my life after a cosmic disaster. Lavender space goon with a ball sack for a chin tries to take over the universe—typical villain stuff—and then, in the middle of all that chaos…you just show up, and suddenly, you’re all I can see. God, I love you so much, pretty baby. I never saw it coming, but I fell in love with you, **hard** , like no chance of recovery. If anyone had told me years ago that I’d lose my heart to an African genius whose brain makes mine look like it never achieved evolution, I might have told that person to screw off. Low and behold…_

_Any regrets, you ask? Well, I do wish I hadn’t been such an insufferable dick to so many people. Wish I could’ve avoided hurting my family and friends, being a colossal embarrassment to your whole country. It would’ve also been nice for us to give Jude and Thandi two or three more siblings…totally up to you, though. Maybe get married. I’m sure explaining us to your brother would’ve been a fun time…NOT. Speaking of which, maybe don’t tell Thandi about…our, uh…past, if you will, at least not until she’s out of high school. Ultimately, it’s whatever you think is best…_

_Well, uh, I won’t keep you much longer. Make sure it’s a long, long, looong time before I see you or my daughter again. Make sure Thandi knows how much I love her. Tell her I would gladly sacrifice myself for her every day of the week and twice on Sundays. I think she’s gonna have a sweet tooth—totally not my fault, by the way—so lots of fruits and veggies and no soft drinks. No dating until she’s at least 50. That’s down from my original limit of 65. Pretty progressive of me, right? At any rate, I’ve made it so that MARIA can run background checks on whoever she brings home with a body scan. When she starts driving, make sure it’s something uncool like a minivan, a beige one, something no teenage girl would publicly acknowledge. Uncool vehicles have a consistent record for_ _safety_.

 

_Give her the space she needs to make mistakes, the humility she needs to admit to them, the encouragement and faith to realize she can bounce back from them, and the discipline she needs to fix them, if possible. Encourage her to cut her own path in the world. Make sure she's not too much like me. I want things to be as good for her as they can be. Most of all, spoil her, spoil our little girl with all the love in the world._

 

_As for you, kitten, you be as happy and carefree as you possibly can—whatever that means for you._

_Again, I love you, I love you sooo much._

_See ya when I see ya, pretty baby._

 

When the message flickers away, Thandi is holding Shuri tightly by the neck, comforting her mother as she heaves with tears. “It’s okay, Mama.”

 

“Thank you, my darling.”

 

Shuri takes a few minutes to calm herself before she speaks again. “Hey,” she says to her daughter. “I’ve something else to show you. Wanna see?”

 

Thandi nods as Shuri carries her toward one of her work tables. She pulls open a drawer that held a data pad. Shuri situates herself on a stool and turns on the pad. She presses an icon marked DADDY-DAUGHTER DANCE PARTY.

 

Tony flickers to life once again on a video, this time with an infant attached to him in a sling. They watch with smiles as he goes through a pile of CDs.

 

_All righty, Than-Than, let’s see what DJ Dad here has on the playlist, shall we? Don’t tell Mommy I let you listen to Ozzy Osbourne. Her musical taste is younger than you. We’ll fix that, though. Yes, we will, baby girl._

_Ah, here we are…good ol’ Fleetwood Mac never disappoints. Check this out._

Tony puts the CD inside the small radio, which has an antenna. Thandi coos and reaches up to Tony’s face with her tiny hand. When the music starts to play, he sings along word for word, as he dances about with Thandi curled close to his body.

 

 _Can you hear me calling_  
Out your name  
You know that I'm falling and I don't know what to say

 _I'll speak a little louder_  
I'll even shout  
You know that I'm proud and I can't get the words out

 _Oh I_  
I want to be with you everywhere  
Oh I  
I want to be with you everywhere  
(Wanna be with you everywhere)

Shuri giggles a bit when she sees her daughter in her arms moving her head back and forth to the beat. She kisses the little girl’s forehead.

 

Later on, that night, when she has put Thandi to sleep after her bedtime story, it occurs to Shuri that Tony Stark—the man who called her _pretty baby_ , made her a mother, and saved the universe—he didn’t die. He merely went supernova.

 

Like any star, Tony came roaring into existence, gave life to all around him, burned brightly, and caused wonder in everyone who was blessed enough to witness him in person. And when it was time, when he’d fulfilled his ultimate purpose, he gave the world a grand finale it wouldn't ever forget. He exploded in brilliance.

 

As wondrous as the man himself had been, like any star, the beauty he left in his wake is more amazing.

 

She shuts off the lamp on Thandi’s bedside table, leaving the room dark, except for the repulsor-powered nightlight on the opposite side of the room.


End file.
